modifiers for a indoor head shot

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iancass

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Yesterday I had a very frustrating morning trying to do a head shop of myself "with my partners help to press the button" I had two issues one was glare from my glasses and the other was shadows on my face. I was using one umbrella and a reflector. I had to move my light source around about ten times trying to eliminate the shadows but in pretty much all the shots I had glare coming from my glasses. With regards to modifiers are umbrellas harder to use that say a softbox and would I need a large softbox to wrap around my face to eliminate those shadows? The only time I had no glare coming from my glasses was when I took them of.
 
Angle of incidence equals angle of reflection. Or in plain English, light reflects off a surface like a snooker ball bounces off the cushion.

The problem with glasses is that they're usually curved and reflections can extend over quite a broad range of angles, so if you're working with just a bit of snooker knowledge as a guide, you often have to over-compensate to be safe and this can restrict light positioning and posing options. But using a studio head with modelling lamp, you can see exactly what's going on, precise positioning becomes easy and your options are greatly increased.

I'm not sure why so many people struggle along working 'blind' with speedlites when decent quality studio heads are now available for just £100 - eg Godox MS300. Plus with a studio head you get fast recycling, plenty of power when you need it, and a vast range of affordable softboxes and modifiers will fit straight on.
 
For about £15 you can buy stupidly bright led torches, hold that in the centre of your umbrella and you get a rough modeling light. Not as good as studion flash but it helps (some flashes have a sort of modeling light built in, a sort of strobe thing)it's not great but better than a poke in the eye with a pointed stick... ;)
 
HoppyUK said:
Angle of incidence equals angle of reflection. Or in plain English, light reflects off a surface like a snooker ball bounces off the cushion.

The problem with glasses is that they're usually curved and reflections can extend over quite a broad range of angles, so if you're working with just a bit of snooker knowledge as a guide, you often have to over-compensate to be safe and this can restrict light positioning and posing options. But using a studio head with modelling lamp, you can see exactly what's going on, precise positioning becomes easy and your options are greatly increased.

I'm not sure why so many people struggle along working 'blind' with speedlites when decent quality studio heads are now available for just £100 - eg Godox MS300. Plus with a studio head you get fast recycling, plenty of power when you need it, and a vast range of affordable softboxes and modifiers will fit straight on.
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You may have a good point, the studio head offers more and is around the same price, i suppose i would need a godox trigger as well
 
iancass said:
You may have a good point, the studio head offers more and is around the same price, i suppose i would need a godox trigger as well
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Yes, you would need a trigger appropriate to the system, in the case of the Godox MS300 (or MS200 to save a few quid - not worth it IMHO) that's any one of the Godox X-series triggers. I'd avoid the X1T trigger even though it's slightly cheaper - it works well but is a PITA to use. Get he X2T or Xpro. That's a one-off purchase and opens up the entire Godox ecosystem, which is so vast it can be a bit bewildering to newcomers so ask here.

MS300 has a sync socket so there are plenty of cheaper basic triggering alternatives (but no remote control). Plus there are S1 and S2 optical slave triggering options, ie you could trigger it off a speedlite at low power.

Edit: Wayne's suggestion of using a bright torch as a DIY modelling light might be doable to check reflections. Another way is to take any old torch and get someone to hold it at the light position, pointing at the subject, while you look through the camera. Just remember to check from both sides of the umbrella/softbox and not just in the centre.

Edit 2: Some small reflections in glasses can look more natural or even add something if they have interesting colours, but proceed with caution - and a modelling light ;)

Short review here
View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rCymOi-raK4
 
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DG Phototraining said:
Without having a permanent studio I'll never go back to plugged-in heads - even when they were the obvious thing to have I found wires a real faff :D

And now with my speedlights having a modeling light I'm sorted :) though I (very) rarely even bother with that even lol

Dave
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Have to agree - mains cables are a PITA, but even at Godox prices battery powered equivalent studio heads are two or three times the cost.

My Godox V1 speedlite has a so-called modelling LED. It's about as useful as a built-in glow worm. Modelling lights are extremely helpful to newcomers and speed up the learning process no end. Also whenever trying something different and critical, eg product photography. Less so when you've used the same lighting set up 100 times before ;)
 
HoppyUK said:
Yes, you would need a trigger appropriate to the system, in the case of the Godox MS300 (or MS200 to save a few quid - not worth it IMHO) that's any one of the Godox X-series triggers. I'd avoid the X1T trigger even though it's slightly cheaper - it works well but is a PITA to use. Get he X2T or Xpro. That's a one-off purchase and opens up the entire Godox ecosystem, which is so vast it can be a bit bewildering to newcomers so ask here.

MS300 has a sync socket so there are plenty of cheaper basic triggering alternatives (but no remote control). Plus there are S1 and S2 optical slave triggering options, ie you could trigger it off a speedlite at low power.

Edit: Wayne's suggestion of using a bright torch as a DIY modelling light might be doable to check reflections. Another way is to take any old torch and get someone to hold it at the light position, pointing at the subject, while you look through the camera. Just remember to check from both sides of the umbrella/softbox and not just in the centre.

Edit 2: Some small reflections in glasses can look more natural or even add something if they have interesting colours, but proceed with caution - and a modelling light ;)

Short review here
View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rCymOi-raK4
Click to expand...

Another thought re triggering - most of the Godox speedlites are also transmitter-triggers. So you could get one of those and use it to control and fire any Godox X-series flash unit.
 
And another way of dealing with it is to pop the lenses out of the frame. Not usually necessary or even a good idea, but that method comes into its own when the prescription is very strong and the view through the lenses is distorted. Basically though, just getting the light high enough and angled correctly will ensure that nearly all of the reflections bounce away harmlessly, our old friend the angle of incidence and reflection, and it looks more natural to have a degree of controlled reflection too.
HoppyUK said:
Have to agree - mains cables are a PITA, but even at Godox prices battery powered equivalent studio heads are two or three times the cost.

My Godox V1 speedlite has a so-called modelling LED. It's about as useful as a built-in glow worm. Modelling lights are extremely helpful to newcomers and speed up the learning process no end. Also whenever trying something different and critical, eg product photography. Less so when you've used the same lighting set up 100 times before ;)
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Wires need a degree of care but the advantages of mains power outweigh the inconvenience IMO. These advantages typically include much faster recycling, much brighter modelling lamp and much less money. I'm not sure about "even at Godox prices" because, predictably, now that they are in a monopoly position every new product launch is at a much higher price than for the very similar item that they've replaced, so not cheap now.
 
redsnappa said:
I made the same mistake as you in thinking that studio lighting & modifiers were there to eliminate shadows. You soon learn that a portrait without shadows look flat, you will realise how important shadows are in giving shape and form to the subject being photograph.

Use modifiers to move shadows where you want them or changing the intensity of shadows.. The best photographers manipulate shadows rather than trying to eliminate shadows.
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@iancass
Just to reiterate the above; the whole point of using a controlled light source is that you control the shadows, the highlights and shadows show the viewer form and texture.

There are some great tutorials on the Lencarta site about classic lighting patterns, but even simpler IMHO is to start with basic Portrait Lighting (often called Rembrandt). Where you’re aiming for a triangular highlight on the cheek furthest from the light.

the best way of learning is to find an image you want to copy the style of and reverse engineer the lighting position, if you get stuck, ask here. :)
 
As above. Good lighting is very much the art of creating the right shadows in the right places, flooding the subject with lights or with very soft lighting just produces bland results that nobody can really find objectionable, but nobody will be drawn to those shots either.

Soft and bland lighting isn't wrong, for many shots (the type that appear in newspapers or similar showing people smiling at the camera, shaking hands with each other (remember when we used to shake hands, pre Covid 19?) mostly need to be bland. But shots that are intended to grab the eye need to be more focussed on the light.

Here's an (old) example from one of my tutorials. The subject here was the Jewellery and the shot was taken to sell it. The model was there to catch the viewer's attention, as simple as that. The simply sales message is that you (or the girlfriend that you're buying for) will look like the model with this jewellery. This shot ended up on the cover of a woman's glossy, but it wasn't taken for that purpose.
jewellery.jpg
Coming back to Phil's point about deconstructing the image to work out the lighting, this one is as simple as it gets because only one light was used.
First, look at her eyes, the reflections tell you that the light is straight in front of her and above. Look more closely and you'll see that these specular highlights (reflections) are fairly small and round, could be a round softbox - until you look at the shadow below her bottom lip, chin and elbows. The shadows here are deep and hard, this pretty much rules out any kind of diffused lighting such as a softbox. There are also shadows under her cheekbones (although they have been reduced a bit in PP). The lighting is becoming easier to work out now, we know it isn't a softbox because the shadows are too clearly defined and it can't be an umbrella for the same reason.
It can't be a standard reflector, which could produce similar shadows, because the lighting on her face and body is too smooth.
And that leaves us with a choice of two modifiers, either a beauty dish or a fresnel spot. From memory it was a fresnel, a bluddy great 14" one, from Bron.

But, let's not worry about the actual modifier, what matters here is the placement of the light, so positioned to create strong shadows.
 
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I have been trying the Rembrandt lighting style as suggested and it was great fun, i haven't quite mastered getting the perfect triangle yet but I defintley see were from pictures the look you get from it. Will it matter what modifier I use? I only have a couple of umbrellas and a softbox. Also I would like some help with stands for my flash and soon to be studio head, my current ones always feel like they about to colapase with the slightest touch. One more thing I just remembered for me I think a modelling light would make my worh floe so much easier test test test which is very time consuming when I want to just concentrating on getting story telling images.
 
As for modifiers, I prefer a soft box for a key light, because it’s easier to control shadows.
 
Phil V said:
@iancass
The std Lencarta stands are remarkable value for money.
When searching look for air damped.

This looks ok for the money
Neewer® Pro 9 feet/260cm Aluminum Alloy Photo Studio Light Stands for Video, Portrait and Photography Lighting https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00UWDD0AW/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_mF6VEbXGM607J

But I’d look at spending a bit more at Lencarta:)
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Yes, this Lencarta one is ideal, and much better value for money https://www.lencarta.com/all-produc...eumatic-air-light-stand-lencarta-265cm-sta012
There's a story here. I was shown the forerunner of this stand at the factory in China and I wasn't impressed because I didn't think that the nylon screw locking mechanism would take the knocks. The factory owner gave me a large lump hammer and pointed at the concrete floor. I did my best by couldn't even mark it, let alone break it.

We later improved it and also made it look prettier, and they sell like hot cakes. They're so good that they have a lifetime warranty.
Phil V said:
As for modifiers, I prefer a soft box for a key light, because it’s easier to control shadows.
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It doesn't matter much, precise position is far more important - but it's easier with a softbox. You'll struggle though until you get a studio flash with a modelling lamp.
 
Garry Edwards said:
We later improved it and also made it look prettier, and they sell like hot cakes. They're so good that they have a lifetime warranty.
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They also have a removable spigot pin with a two-way spigot holder too - which is so useful for attaching Superclamps, baby plates, spring clamps with spigots and other grip. I like the red locking nuts - much easier to locate working in a dark studio.
 
16" beauty dish is my go-to modifier for headshots. With glasses the head positioning is just as important as light position. As you can see here, there is a significant reflection in the first image. Tilting the head down will not only remove this but can give you a much better, more confident look. These are shot with the 16"BD upper left and a small strip box providing some fill from the back right and a white wall behind.

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